Peyrefitte also spoke about the Court of Appeal (Amendment) Bill of 2019, which will soon become law.
With this new law, the Barrow Administration wants to give the Court of Appeal, the ability to expedite the hearing of appeal cases before the mandatory 21-day grace period.
You'll remember that the Barrow Administration faced that same obstacle on April 8th, when it was trying to push for the ICJ referendum on April 10th.
They were forced into that position after the Chief Justice granted the PUP an injunction restraining them from holding it on April 10th.
The Government went to the Court of Appeal in the hopes of trying to reverse that decision at the last minute, but the Court of Appeal refused to hear the matter because the mandatory 21-days hadn't passed as yet - so the Appeal Court didn't have jurisdiction.
Well, this new amendment now gives them that jurisdiction, and after Wednesday's Senate Meeting, Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte explained why the government felt it necessary to make this amendment:
Hon. Michael Peyrefitte - Attorney General
"Remember, if you'll recall, I'm sure you'll recall when we wanted to appeal the Chief Justice's decision to grant an injunction preventing the holding of the ICJ referendum on April 10th. We wanted to appeal that decision right away, and we wanted to appeal it, so that we could still have the referendum on the April date. When we went to the Court of Appeal, the Court of Appeal ruled in a majority decision that we simply did not have the legislation, or rather, the status stated very clearly without question, that an appeal of an issue could not occur before 21 days. Had we waited the 21 days, then naturally, that would have taken us pass April 8th. It was the feeling at the Bar and the Government that for the future, there should be no limitation as to when the Court of Appeal can hear an appeal. That statute, that section does not exist in the CCJ legislation. The CCJ has no limitation as to when they can hear an. appeal. You file an appeal this morning, they can hear it this afternoon. We could not find that limitation in England, and many Commonwealth countries. So, we decided that it was the the best interest of justice to amend the legislation to give the court of appeal the option to hear it early is they so choose. So, the Court of Appeal could still say, we will wait the 21 days because, what you're asking us to hear early is not urgent, and important enough for us to hear early. So, it will still be within the discretion of the Court of Appeal to hear the matter early, but at least, they will have the legislation that gives them the power, to decide if they want to hear it early."
The Attorney General stressed that this amendment does not force the Court of Appeal into expediting each and every appeal case. It merely gives them the jurisdiction and authority to do so, which they can disregard, if they don't think that the appeal needs urgent attention.
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